November 2012

Namine is afraid of the doctor’s office. When she has an appointment, she throws up; it’s a rare occasion indeed when she doesn’t. Knowing this, though, makes the reassurance she gave to Jessica all the more special.

Jessica and I had the IEP meeting – reevaluation? I’m not sure exactly – this morning. So we had a choice: either bring Namine with us at 7:45 this morning, or get someone to watch her. My mom was kind enough to come over and stay with her. The meeting didn’t take too long, fortunately, and Namine was still asleep by the time we got back.

Every once in a while, Namine will say something that we don’t understand. Some time ago, one such word was “appawooby.” We could not, for the longest time, figure out what it meant. We eventually figured it out: it meant “that would be.” She was saying an approximation of when we say it quickly, “tha’wou’be.” Since then, every once in a while Jessica or I will use it. Makes perfect sense to us.

When Namine was little, she had to have a trach. It was what allowed her to survive, before she was big enough to withstand the jaw distraction and cleft palate repair surgeries. Even then, it took some time before she was able to be rid of the trach. During that time, we – all three of us: Jessica, Namine, and myself – were changed in ways we couldn’t know.

The day before yesterday, we took Namine to the doctor. She’s had a pretty phlegmy cough for about a week now, and the antibiotic didn’t really seem to do the trick. Then yesterday saw us in the ER, something we’d been trying to avoid – but you do what’s best for your child, no matter how much you dislike it.